USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 2 > Part 45
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do
60
64
Alice
110
do
do
60 21
Nicholas
111
do
do
53
43 Esther
112
do
do
61
84
Sarley
113
Samuel Butler
do
56
8
Betsey
114
William Valentine
do
37
83
Anna
115
Dennis Bishop
do
46
3
Sally
116 Joseph Rhodes
do
66
89
Sally
117
Nathan Tingley
do
37
83 Anna
118
Joseph Martin
do
46
82
Polly
119
Daniel Bucklin
do
25
82
Bob
120
Benjamin Smith
do
31
54
Phebe
121
Ambrose Page
do
35
50
Ranger
122 Eliza Nickerson
do
38
Thankful
123
Benjamin Rhodes
do
39
57
Sally
124
Benjamin Smith
do
34
92
Polly
1270
21
125
Samuel Godfrey
Sloop
70
Elinor
126
Caleb Godfrey
Schooner 50
Hope
127 Jenks & Winsor
Brig
138
Freelove
128 Brown, Rogers & Brown
Sloop
90
Triumvirate
129
Robert & J. Rhodes
do
41
Betsey
130
Welcome Arnold
do
90
Sarah
Total tonnage
12,103 and 65-95ths
No. 12 Ship Union, Brown, Rog- ers & Brown, sold Champlin & Dickason, deduct
160 and 73-95ths
11,943 tons nearest
11 Ships
3,066 54-95 tons
35 Brigs
4,266 48-95 tons
1 Snow
141 ..- 95 tons
1 Polacre
101 ..- 95 tons
25 Schooners
1,320 21-95 tons
56 Sloops
3,047 56-95 tons
129 Sail
11,942 84-95 tons
With the thirteen States all finally in the Union, Congress at once began to legislate for commerce, and an act was approved August 4,
462
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
1790, which was designed "to provide more effectually for the duties imposed by law on goods, wares and merchandise imported into the United States and on the tonnage of ships or vessels". By the pro- visions of this act Rhode Island was divided into the two customs dis- tricts of Providence and Newport. The first records of the Provi- dence custom house are contained in two ancient looking volumes, Im- port Book A, covering the period from June 24, 1790, to September 15, 1796, and Import Book B, from September 16, 1796, to June 27, 1807. The first entry in Book A is that of the sloop Betsey, William Young, master, from Port au Prince, with a cargo of salt, molasses, sugar and oil, on which the duties paid were $244.45. During the year 1791 sixty-four vessels arrived from foreign ports and the duties on their cargoes amounted to $82,268. Of these vessels fifty-three were from ports in the West Indies, one from Canton, China, one from the Cape de Verde Islands and nine from European ports. About the beginning of the century the European trade began to increase and vessels arrived from Liverpool, London, Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Cron- stadt, St. Petersburg, Lisbon and other European ports, and their cargoes were chiefly manufactured articles and cloths.
The most interesting development of the commerce of Providence at this period was the trade with China and the East Indies, which was started by John Brown and participated in by Brown, Benson & Ives and Brown & Ives. John Brown took as a partner about this time a young Philadelphia merchant named John Francis, and the firm was known as Brown & Francis. Mr. Francis married, January 1, 1788, Abby, the eldest daughter of John Brown, and they had one son, John Brown Francis, who from 1833 to 1838 was governor of the State. Mr. John Francis died in 1796. The first ship to sail from Providence for the East Indies was the General Washington, belong- ing to Brown & Francis and commanded by Capt. Jonathan Donni- son. She sailed December 24, 1787, with a cargo of cannon shot, anchors, bar iron, tar, ginseng, Madeira wine, brandy and spirits, Jamaica spirits and New England rum, and called at the ports of Madeira, Madras, Pondicherry and Canton, and on the way home at St. Helena, St. Ascension and St. Eustatia. According to her log she sailed a distance of 32,758 miles. She arrived in Providence July 5, 1789, with a cargo consisting of tea, silks, china, cotton goods, lac- quered ware, gloves and flannels. On page 232 of the "Book of Mani- fest", in the Providence custom house, the valuation of the cargo of the ship and the duties paid are given as follows, but in detail :
A VIEW OF PROVIDENCE AND THE UPPER HARBOR LOOKING NORTH.
Ensi
464
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Consignees.
Value.
Brown & Franeis.
£14,604 13s. 0d.
Duties 5 per cent. £730 8s. 8d.
Sam Shaw, Esq., and Edward Dowse, Esq. .
14,645 13s. 6d.
732 5s. 9d.
Samuel Ward, Esq.
819
0s. 0d.
40 19s. 0d.
Total
£30,069
6s. 6d.
£1,503 13s. 5d.
There is a good reason to eonjeeture that the General Washington continued in the East Indian trade down to 1802 and was probably constantly employed therein. She arrived in Providenee from her see- ond voyage June 11, 1791, and from her third May 13, 1793; May 15, 1795, she cleared at Providence for Calcutta; and in 1801 and 1802 she is reported as being on the way to or from China. An examination of the custom house records would probably demonstrate the faet that in the intervals between these dates she was likewise engaged as an Indiaman. She returned from a voyage to Cronstadt, Russia, in Oc- tober, 1803, and on December of the same year she was sold by the executors of the estate of John Brown and thereafter was used in the eoasting trade.
The ship Warren, also belonging to Brown & Franeis, was probably the second vessel to sail from Providence for the East Indies .. This eonjeeture is founded on the fact that the Providenee Gazette of May 22, 1790, advertises for sale at vendue, "on the 8th of June next, a large quantity of India goods just imported in the ship Warren, Capt. Pardon Sheldon, directly from Caleutta". These goods, aeeording to the advertisement, consisted of "Printed ealieoes and Chintzes of every kind; muslins and muslin handkerchiefs of all sorts ; long eloths of different qualities and many other eotton eloths, which from their durability have been found very profitable for family use, either as shirting or sheeting; also Bandano and Pulieat silk handkerchiefs, Persians, Taffetas, Ginghams, Doreas, Bastas, East and West Indian eottons, excellent saltpetre, a few chests of best Bohea, Hyson and Souchong teas; window glass, an assortment of Manchester cotton goods and many other new goods which would not be generally known by their names, therefore we have omitted the partieulars; all which will be sold in such lots and quantities as may best suit the purchas- ers".
While the General Washington was in the full glory of her career as an East Indiaman, her owners, Brown & Franeis, built for the same trade a new ship, the President Washington, which was the largest and finest vessel that up to that time had ever sailed from the port. The majority of the vessels, as the lists show, then owned in
465
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
Providence were less than one hundred tons, and those that were con- sidered large ranged between one hundred and three hundred tons, consequently a ship of nine hundred and fifty, the President Washing- ton's tonnage, was a mammoth craft for the times. She was launched from the Brown & Francis shipyard near Fox Point early in January, 1791, and soon after sailed for the east. Both the ship and her cargo were sold at Calcutta in 1792 and she never returned to Providence, but in the Providence Gazette for September 14, 1793, the information is given that the Providence bank had received between fifty and sixty thousand dollars in specie, which was part of the price received for the ship and cargo.
Brown & Francis built another ship, the George Washington, for the East India trade and she sailed from Providence January, 1794, on her first voyage, by way of Madeira. She made a voyage to Ba- tavia and China in 1796 and upon her return was purchased by the United States government and fitted up as a cruiser.
Brown & Francis seem to have been the only Providence merchants engaged in the East India trade at first, but they were soon followed by Brown, Benson & Ives. The first ship that the latter house sent out was probably the Rising Sun, which returned to Providence a short time previous to June 1, 1793, from a voyage to Canton with a large quantity of tea, china, silk and cotton cloths, spices and sugars. These goods were advertised in the Providence Gazette. The Rising Sun must have sailed late in 1791 or early in 1792 and probably returned in May, 1793. After the death of John Brown, in 1803, the firm of Brown & Francis does not appear to have continued very long in the East India trade.
One of the most noted vessels engaged in the East India and China trade was the ship John Jay, Capt. Daniel Olney, belonging to Brown, Benson & Ives, which sailed from Providence for Bombay, India, De- cember 28, 1794, with a cargo of pig iron, bar iron, cordage, rum, gin, porter, beef, pork, lumber, anchors, candles, Geneva tobacco, duck, masts and spars, valued at £10,365. She arrived in Providence in the spring of 1796, with a cargo consisting mainly of teas, whose value has been estimated at over $250,000. The John Jay cleared from Providence on her second voyage April 9, 1797, and returned by way of Russia, arriving in Providence March 23, 1799; in May, 1799, she sailed for Batavia and returned March 22, 1800; May 15, 1800, she sailed on her fourth voyage and arrived in Providence from Canton July, 1801, with a cargo valued at $318,315.08. On her fifth voyage she sailed from Newport, October 5, 1801, via Amsterdam, and from
30
A VIEW OF THE EAST SIDE OF PROVIDENCE RIVER LOOKING TOWARDS INDIA POINT,
AND SHOWING THE WHARVES WHERE MOST OF THE VESSELS ENGAGED IN THE FOREIGN TRADE FORMERLY DISCHARGED THEIR CARGOES. THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS TAKEN FROM A DRAWING FORMING A PORTION OF THE CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE PROVIDENCE MARINE SOCIETY.
467
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
that port to the Indies with a cargo to the Dutch East India Company on commission, and did not return to Providence until March, 1803; November, 1803, she sailed for Batavia and returned in September, 1804, with a cargo of coffee and sugar; September 22, 1804, she again sailed for Amsterdam and shipped a cargo for Sumatra and China, but on her homeward voyage she was captured by the British sloop of war Driver, was taken into Bermuda January 12, 1806, was detained until June 19, when she was released on bail and arrived in Providence with all her cargo June 28, 1806; October 14, 1806, she again sailed for the East, but after taking on a cargo at Batavia, she struck on a coral reef off Pigeon Island and went to pieces August 22, 1807. The Jay treaty with Great Britain, signed in 1795, prohibited American ships trading to the East Indies from carrying their cargoes to Europe. The seizure of the John Jay was probably prompted by a belief on the part of the British captain that the vessel had violated the provisions of this treaty.
Brown & Ives built the ship Ann and Hope of five hundred and fifty tons in 1798, and sent her out July 9 of that year on a voyage to Can- ton, from which she returned June 22, 1799, with a cargo valued at $314,987.50. She was a fast ship and made the round voyage in less than a year. August 10, 1799, she cleared for her second voyage and arrived August 16, 1800, at Newport, where she discharged her cargo, which was valued at $324,388.60. On her third trip, leaving Provi- dence in April, 1801, the Ann and Hope went to London and there took on a cargo for Canton, returning the same way. She cleared from Providence for Manila in the Philippines May, 1802, and on this voy- age traded from Amsterdam and the Baltic ports to the East, evidently making two trips to Batavia before she returned to Providence in August, 1804. November 10, 1804, she sailed for the East Indies by way of Lisbon, but on her return was wrecked on Block Island early in January, 1806, and her valuable cargo was nearly all sacrificed. The master builder of the first Ann and Hope was Benjamin Tallman, and the vessel was named after the wives of the owners, Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives. Another vessel named the Ann and Hope, owned by Brown & Ives, was subsequently engaged in the East India trade.
In the Providence Gazette for June 29, 1803, Benjamin Hoppin & Son advertised the entire cargo of the ship Rollo, Captain Arnold, from Calcutta. These goods consisted of cotton cloths, chintz, seer- sucker, bandanoes, white sugar, forty thousand cigars and a variety of other articles.
The ships engaged in the East Indian trade up to 1806 were, in the
468
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
order of their introduction, the General Washington, the Warren, the President Washington and the George Washington, all belonging to Brown & Francis ; the Rising Sun, the John Jay and the Ann and Hope, belonging to Brown & Ives; and the ship Rollo to the Hoppins. "The General Washington cleared for the East Indies in 1787; in 1789 two ships cleared for India ; in 1792 three ships went out ; in 1799 four; in 1804, six. The largest number in any one year was seven, in 1806. The General Washington's first cargo was valued at $99,848. In 1795 the volume of imports was $311,910. In 1800 imports from the East Indies werc valued at $726,924. In 1804 the volume of imports was $887,000; in 1806 $662,000, but in that year two of the largest In- diamen (John Jay and the Ann and Hope) failed to make their cx- pected haven in safety. This would more than account for the de- crease in the volume of trade. The enormous profits made were more than compensation, in the long run, for the frequent interference with American commerce on the part of European powers".1
The success of the great mercantile house of Brown & Ives was very largely due to the energy and ability of Thomas Poynton Ives, who became a member of the firm in 1792, at which time he married Hope, the sister of his partner, Nicholas Brown. He directed the course of the house during the heyday of the East India trade, and the success of the ventures then projected was the result in a great measure of the methods he put in practice. The following extract well describes some of these methods :
"The mode of transacting business of this firm was different from that of previous times and entirely different from any now in use. A vessel would be fitted out with a cargo to the East Indies and placed in charge of a supercargo (and sometimes two), who sailed on the vessel and was sent out with a 'roving commission', namely, to any port he saw fit to enter in that part of the world. The supercargo would go in the vessel to a given East Indian port, and, if he deemed advisable, sell the cargo therc. If he judged, from advices there ob- tained, that some other port or ports would furnish a more desirable market, he would procced to such port or ports, and sell there the cargo, or so much of it as he deemed expedient, replacing it with mer- chandise there obtainable, with which he would proceed to still other ports, selling the rest of the original cargo or portions of it, as he deemed best, till he obtained a cargo suitable for some other portion of the globe, to which he would then sail, there re-exchanging cargoes, and start thence for the home port. The selling of cargocs and pur- chasing new ones was subject to general instructions, left entirely to
1The East India Trade of Providence from 1787 to 1807, by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball.
469
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
the supercargo. It was no unusual thing for a vessel to go to Batavia, in that neighborhood sell out its cargo, take a new one for the Russian North Pacific ports, there take on a third cargo for Copenhagen or St. Petersburg in Europe; then at these ports take a fourth cargo of European products for Providence, and arrive home after a voyage of two years, during which time the supercargo and the owners would have no communication with each other except at long intervals. It will be seen that an immense power and responsibility rested on the supercargo; and it was largely on their skill in the discernment of human nature and the choice of men for such posts that the firm of Brown & Ives depended for success.
"This firm also extended their business by having fleets of smaller vessels in foreign countries, whose business it would be to take lesser cargoes from some central port to smaller markets, exchange these for the merchandise in such markets, and return therewith to the central ports, at which the larger vessels of the firm would call at stated periods to receive the gathered cargoes and transport them to other parts of the world. Brown & Ives was the first Providence house to introduce this systen, and it is to Mr. Ives that the inception of the plan was due".1
The ships John Jay and the Ann and Hope evidently traded on some of their voyages in the manner above outlined.
From 1787 to 1807 was the period of the greatest activity in the commerce between Providence and the East Indies. During the Napoleonic wars, by the retaliatory measure enacted both by Great Britain and France, the commerce of the United States was grievously injured. In 1806 Great Britain, by an order in council, ordered a blockade of all European ports in league with France, and the next year prohibited American vessels from entering any port in Europe except in Sweden; Napoleon in 1806 issued the Berlin Decree, declar- ing all British ports to be in a state of blockade, and in 1807 the Milan Decree, ordering the capture and sale of all American vessels intend- ing to enter British ports. Recognizing the impossibility of carrying on commerce in opposition to such acts by the two leading nations of the world, the United States, December 21, 1807, passed the Embargo or Non-Intercourse Act, forbidding the departure of any vessel from the United States to a foreign country. This act was of course evaded, but in 1809 an enforcing act was passed, providing heavy penalties for its violation. The Embargo Act was repealed a few months later in 1809, except as to Great Britain and France, and was finally wholly repealed except as to the war ships of the two nations. It was a politi- cal measure on the part of the United States, designed to bring the
1Providence Plantations, p. 247.
470
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
two European governments to terms; but it was not favored by the seaports, and the people of Providence were uniformly in opposition to the administration in regard to its policy at this period. These diffi- culties, chiefly commercial in their character, between Great Britain and the United States, continued and culminated in the War of 1812.
During the period from 1806 to the close of the War of 1812, in 1815, the foreign shipping of the United States was sadly interfered with. The Americans had been the leading neutral carriers of the world, but they lost this position as a result of these events, and the cessation of strife between Great Britain and France enabled the European nations again to compete for the ocean carrying trade. Providence suffered in common with other American seaports. Her East India and European trade, however, did not cease, but were re- vived in good volume after the war. Many of her merchants, however, lost heavily at this period, and never recovered their former status and wealth.
The trade to the East Indies existed for more than half a century, the last arrival being the ship Lion, January 30, 1841. For a number of years the duties paid on the imports from Canton were as follows : 1810, one vessel, $53,130.74; 1811, one vessel, $118,503.86; 1816, one vessel, $104,973.13 ; 1817, two vessels, $106,886.44; 1819, three vessels, $278,467.10. The cargoes brought from Canton were chiefly teas and the duties paid were more in amount than those paid on cargoes from other ports. In some cases a single vessel from Canton paid more duty than all the other vessels entered during the year.
During the War of 1812 the duties paid on merchandise imported in foreign vessels into Providence largely exceeded the amount paid on goods imported in American ships. As a small compensation, some of the vessels captured from the British by privateers were brought into the port. In the year 1813 three such prizes were entered and the duties paid on their cargoes amounted to $28,127.49. In 1814 three more arrived, on which the duty was $12,495.66. In November, 1814, the private armed brig Scourge, Samuel Eames, master, returned from a cruise with seventeen bales of raw silk, captured from the enemy, on which the duty amounted to $488.31.
Commerce revived rapidly at the close of the War of 1812. The Providence Gazette of February 25, 1815, says : "The noise of the axe and hammer began again to be heard in our workships and on our wharves and the busy note of preparation presages the return of those halcyon days from which we have been too long and unnecessarily estranged. Already are a number of our best ships fitting up with every possible degree of dispatch, confidently expecting that no inter-
471
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
vening cloud will obscure the bright prospect of free and uninterrupt- ed commerce throughout the globe".
These bright anticipations were realized and the commerce of Provi- dence in the next few years increased rapidly. In 1820 the shipping engaged in the foreign trade comprised seventy vessels, viz., thirty-one ships, two barks, thirty-one brigs, four schooners, two sloops, total tonnage, 15,491; and coasting trade, sixty vessels, viz., three ships, fourteen brigs, twelve schooners, thirty-one sloops, with a tonnage of 5,204, giving a total of 130 vessels with a tonnage of 20,696 tons.
The following list of square rigged vessels belonging to the port of Providence, about the year 1818, is copied from a manuscript in pos- session of the Rhode Island Historical Society :
Ship Ann & Hope, Brown & Ives, owners.
66 Patterson, Brown & Ives, owners.
Asia, Brown & Ives, owners.
Gen'l Hamilton, Brown & Ives, owners.
Washington, Brown & Ives, owners.
Charlotte, Brown & Ives, owners.
Packet, Brown & Ives, owners. Lost on Nantucket.
Brig Rambler, Brown & Ives, owners. Sold to Bristol.
" Nereus, Brown & Ives, owners.
Richard, Brown & Ives, owners. Worn out.
Ship John Brown, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Lion, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Gen'l Hamilton, E. Carrington & Co., owners. Two same name, one belonging to Brown & Ives, the other to E. Carrington & Co.
Integrity, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
66 George, E. Carrington & Co., owners. Worn out.
Trumbull, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Christopher, E. Carrington & Co., owners. Worn out 1820.
Nancy, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
William Baker, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Zephyr, E. Carrington & Co., owners. Sold in Boston.
Mary Ann, E. Carrington & Co., owners. On Dutch Island.
Panther, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Mercury, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Brig Viper, E. Carrington & Co., owners. Sold in S. America. Mary, E. Carrington & Co., owners.
Ship Two Catherines, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners.
" Jansen, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners. Cut through and sunk by ice in the Texet in 1820.
472
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Ship Tyre, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners.
Caravan, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners.
" Louisa, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners. Taken by Lord Cochran, South America, but Capt. Hicks ran away with him and es- caped.
Brig Perseverance, S. G. Arnold & Co., owners.
Ship Hazard, Aborn & Jackson, owners.
66 Union, Aborn & Jackson, owners.
Hope, G. Taft & Co., owners.
Brig Antelope, G. Taft & Co., owners.
Ship Rising States, Humphrey & Everett, owners.
Brig Gen'l Jackson, Humphrey & Everett, owners. " Globe, Humphrey & Everett, owners.
Ship Morning Star, Nath. Bishop, owner.
60 Maria Catharine, Nath. Bishop, owner. Lost on the Bonnet op- posite Whale Rock.
Fame, Cyrus Butler, owner.
Neptune, Cyrus Butler, owner.
Mary Olney, Richard Bullock, owner.
Pegu, Joseph Saunders, owner. Sold in Boston 1819.
Gov. Tompkins, C. Earle & others owners.
Atlas, C. Earle & others, owners.
Brig James Mauran, Jere Mauran, owner.
" Francis, Caleb Earle, owner.
Mary, Caleb Earle, owner.
Emerald, Crawford Allen, owner. Sold in Boston.
Eagle, Cooke & Brown, owners.
Gov. Hopkins, Cooke & Brown, owners.
Sall & Hope, William Church, owner.
Radius, William Church, owner.
Agenoria, William Church, owner.
Prince Eugene, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
Juno, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
66 Fame, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
Only Son, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
66 Patriot, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
Bowdoin, Richmond & Andrews, owners.
Ann, David Cady, owner.
Pegasus, David Cady, owner.
Dolphin, William Church, owner. Capsized and lost, crew saved in the boats.
" Zepphia, C. Butler, owner.
473
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
Brig George Williams, Cyrus Butler, owner.
Robarus, Cyrus Butler, owner.
" Robert Cochran, S. & A. B. Arnold, owners.
" Decatur, S. & A. B. Arnold, owners.
Resolution, Dan'l Arnold, owner.
George Washington, Dan'l Arnold, owner.
B., J. Saunders, owner.
Mount Hope, Nath'l Smith, owner.
Hector, Brown & Ives, owners.
Clarissa, C. & J. Mauran, owners.
Venus, C. & J. Mauran, owners.
66 Traveller, C. & J. Mauran, owners.
" Rollo, G. & O. Earle, owners.
Telegraph, G. & O. Earle, owners. Lost on Jersey shore coming from Charleston.
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